TripAdvisor Reviews Hotel Europa Irkutsk

Travel Blogs from Irkutsk

... train station with about 1.5 hours up our sleeve. Sat in the square under the lion soaking up the sun (lovely day) until we wandered to the platform.

For the first time our carriage attendant noticed the different number on my passport compared to what was on the ticket. Brought out our copy of old passport and letter from travel agency explaining the reason. Our attendant, quite young, took off with said documents and after about 10 minutes came back with ...

... daughter soon got off at their stop. We were then on our own for a little while. It was great to have the space but it didn't last very long. Soon a lady came on who knew zero English so we communicated with smiles. The lady and I both had a laugh together watching Sverre surrounded by some young Russian boys all trying to watch him play a game. I spent the afternoon reading books and watching the world go by outside. Every time we stopped at a station I ...

... holiday and fly back home to London. We had the option of seeing Nerpa seals in an aquarium (they are found only in Lake Baikal - and in this aquarium), but we had heard that they're not very well looked after within the aquarium and didn't feel like supporting that particular enterprise. Instead we realised that we had run out or rubles, and had the mission of finding an ATM. There are only 2 ATM locations in Listvyanka, and one of them wasn't working, so it was lucky at least ...

... to agitate. West Ukraine is farming country and the farmers had nothing to do in the winter but occupy Kiev and cause a coup. The pod leader was bad but the new regime are hostile to Russia but 90% of those in Crimea are Russian. Crimea sided for Russia with the loss of just one life, a long time political extremist and nutter. There is no problem in Odessa and the coast. It is just a few extremists who think that Europe will save them from themselves. At ...

... snow covered Siberian steppe roll by, and reading aloud as Cath did her stitching. I read a Gavin Lyall novel about the early days of the British secret service in pre-WWI. Lyall wrote these books near the end of his career so they have a polish that younger writers would not have had. It is a rollicking good tale. At longer stops of 20 minutes or more we would get off the train to stretch our legs, take photos, and sometimes buy bottled water and large ...